


it's funny because it's true

by thetalkingflower



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Angst, Depression, Dissociation, Gen, Hysterical Laughter, I have no idea how to tag, Poor Smol Bean is Fucked Up, Swearing, bad feels man, dark themes, sans you're scaring steve, think of the children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 20:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5679484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetalkingflower/pseuds/thetalkingflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If a skeleton's spirit is broken by reset after reset and no one remembers witnessing it, did his screams make a sound? Inspired by this audio post: http://sushistreams.tumblr.com/post/136899656070</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's funny because it's true

_“Well, I’m going to Grillby’s.”_

_“…Papyrus, do you want anything?”_

_POFF._

An explosion of snow jerked Sans awake from his afternoon nap. Steve, known by Sans as Royal Jerkass Number One, threw a snowball – or rather a small snow-boulder – right at his face. Not the worst way he’s woken up from a reset, but definitely up there in the Top Ten Rudest Awakenings. Sure, he couldn’t really feel the cold, but a snowball to the face still felt wet and uncomfortable and, really, who the fuck even does that to someone who’s asleep? Apparently, people like Steve did.

“Dude, you like… really need to stop sleeping on the job. It’s mad unprofessional, bruh.” _Ugh, how does anyone genuinely talk like that?_

Sans sighs, not ready to deal with this bullshit so soon after waking up. “I guess I’m just… _bone_ tired. Heh…” He chuckles at his own pun. A bit overused, much like most of his jokes, but for some reason this one never really ran stale. At least it pissed Steve off a little.

You’ve got to be able to smile at the little things like these to survive a life like the one Sans leads.

“Pssh, whatever dude… one of these days, I swear, a human will come waltzing through, killing everything in sight while you just sit on your bony ass…”

That eerily specific insult sent Sans for a loop. _It doesn’t mean anything, Sans…_ a part of him tells himself, but another part of him, a louder, more hateful part, wins over.

_He’s right, and you know it._

_It’s all your fault, and he knows it._

_You’re a failure._

_You couldn’t save anyone._

_Not even your brother…_

Sans began to shake, but not from the expected tears. Instead, he found himself holding back actual _laughter_.

It… it really was funny wasn’t it? His life was a setup to some cruel, twisted joke in some ways.

He’s so lazy, he’d just sit at home while his brother was just dust in the snow, not doing a damn thing about it. It was only the truth, right? As for the culprit making more piles of dust, why even bother? Just give it a couple of days, and everything would be back to normal! His brother would wake him up at his station and call him “Lazybones,” and hopefully it’ll end up being a good run this time!

It felt good to acknowledge the sick, twisted humor in the truth. Liberating, even.

Sans laughed louder.

“It wasn’t that funny, little dude…”

“Heh… sorry,” Sans says in between giggles, “but I guess I never realized my own life would be the funniest joke I ever heard!”

“What the hell are you on about man?” Sans starts to say, _you wouldn’t believe me if I told you_ , but the dam was broken like a twig caught under a footstep. He felt like if he didn’t stop talking he would die.

“Oh, why the hell not? Might as well, since nothing fucking matters anyway!” He laughed again; this was all just so goddamn hilarious he couldn’t help himself. “Ever seen that one movie, ‘Groundhog Day?’ Probably not, it’s a human movie. The one where he keeps reliving the same day? There’s a ton of shitty movies just like it, I think there’s even one Mettaton made. Anyway, that’s my life: a shitty, clichéd movie plot. Not the important detail here. The real kicker is what _you_ said! You don’t even realize how true that is!” Sans looked up, almost forgetting Steve’s presence in his hysterics. He looked uncomfortable.

_Good_ , Sans thought.

“I’ve lost count how many times that little bastard runs through here leaving dust piles in it’s wake!” Sans didn’t know when the tears started to fall, but he was still laughing. “Ha-ha! I remember when I first tried to tell Papyrus, he thought I was trying to pull a prank on him! I guess the joke’s on me this time, huh? Because even if he did believe me, I am the only one who remembers everything! Guess how many times I’ve told him?”

“Sans, dude, snap out of thi-“

“SEVENTEEN! I’ve told him seventeen FUCKING times!” This is one of the things he managed to keep count of. He lost count of resets after fifty, which was who even _knows_ how long ago… The absolute worst reset came to mind, but by this point, Sans might as well have been talking to thin air.

“One time, we made it to the surface – can you even _believe_ that? The surface! – and I thought it was all over! I was finally free! I got to see the real stars and everything! That was the last time I told him all this, and he finally believed me…” He remembers the transition so clearly; one minute he was falling asleep in a lounge chair in the hot sun, the next looking up at his old bedroom ceiling, running outside in his pajamas and screaming in the snow until his voice was hoarse. Papyrus had to slap him to bring him back to reality. He wished someone would slap him now just to get him to shut up. “…but I’m still here at this FUCKING station, raving like a fucking _madman_!” Now that he thinks it, he probably does sound delusional right now. Before he found the lab behind his house, he thought he was loosing his mind. “Not that it matters, though, because eventually you’ll either die or get married to that other royal guard and you won’t even REMEMBER!”

As Sans devolved into more laughter – or was he crying now? He honestly couldn’t tell anymore – Steve spoke to him. “Alright dude, you’ve got some serious problems I don’t know how to deal with. Just… I guess take the day off? Just… sort this shit out with your bro or something, okay?”

And then, Sans was left alone.

Then again, wasn’t he always alone?

For the first time, Sans couldn’t wait for the next reset.

**Author's Note:**

> This is really dark so have some funny alternative titles:  
> -Sans McFreakin Loses It  
> -Steve Was Not Prepared for This Outburst  
> -Where the Fuck is Papyrus When You Need Him


End file.
